Member 1 (Anaqi) - Political Weakness of the Weimar Govenment

Weimar Government was made up of many different parties. 

Communist Party - Extreme left

Social Democrats Party - Left

Centre Party & Democratic Party - Centre

Peoples Party & Nationalists - Right

Nazi Party - Extreme right

Right wing- a group that favours the existence of tradisional social classes and hierarchy.

Left wing- a group that supports social change to create a more     equal society. They favour equal advantages and opportunies as well as the collective good over individualism.

The Weimar Republic was born in a time great upheaval and conflict. The proportional representation system of voting was intended to reduce political conflicts; resulting in many parties gaining seats in the Reichstag.

As there was no single party in overall control parties had to join together to form a government. However, each party had different aims which made it difficult for the Reichstag to govern. Consequently, there were many changes of government which led to political instability. This was reflected in 376 political assassinations up to 1923.

Despite being from the democratic left, during the early 1920s, Friedrich Ebert relied heavily on the traditionally right-wing army and Freikorps in order to keep control of the country.

Conservative attitudes tended to overemphasise the threat from the left, whilst the threat from the right was severely under estimated.

The political spectrum of German political parties. During the early 1920s 32 different political parties were represented in the Reichstag. Each party had different aims which made it difficult for the Reichstag to govern.

Percentage of votes gained by the major German political parties in Reichstag elections, 1924-1932.

The Weimar Republic experienced severe problems from its start. Ebert, the first head of the Video of the political weakness of the Weimar government (First part of video only)WeimarRepublic,  and his government were in a very difficult position. Those on the left – communists and the like – had no respect for the government and the success of Lenin in Russiahad boosted their self-belief. Those on the right – former soldiers still bitter about the Armistice and the defeat in the war – also had no respect for the government as it had ‘betrayed’ them. Royalists, who wanted the Kaiser back had no respect for the government as it had been the Social Democrats who had told the Kaiser to abdicate. On top of this, the civilian population was still suffering from the effects of the war. In many senses, Ebert was isolated………yet he was head of Weimar Germany’s government. The most obvious symbol of his weakness was the fact that his control over Berlin – the nation’s capital – was very weak, yet he led the government.

1918 to 1919 saw take place what has frequently been called the “German Revolution”. Attempts to overthrow that government came from both the left and the right.

The Spartacists, German communists named after the slave who led a rebellion against the Romans,  challenged Ebert’s government, as did the right wing Free Corps (Freikorps) who were nationalists and usually former soldiers angered at what they saw as the government’s betrayal of the German Army in 1918.

Sources from: http://www.theholocaustexplained.org/ks4/the-nazi-rise-to-power/what-was-the-weimar-republic/political-weaknesses-of-the-weimar-republic/#.V26yn_l97IU